Improvement in sewing-machine feeding mechanisms



M. P. CARPENTER.

SEWING MACHINE FEEDING MECHANISM.

N0.112,016. Patented Feb. 21, 1871.

auto 0%tate5 MARY P. CARPENTER, or SAN m s ,cin ma;

Letters Patent No. 112,016, dated February 21, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINE FEEDING MECHANISMS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and maldng part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARY P. CARPENTER, of the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Feed-motion of Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description-of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specilication. r

This invention relates to the employment, for feeding the material to besewed, of two feed-rollers, either with smooth or rough surfaces, one operating below and the other above the material, and each independ ent of the other, having imparted tov it a positive motion; but a part of the invention, consisting of the mechanism for driving the feed-roller operating above the tableor cloth-plate, on the upper surface of the material, is applicable, whether such roller be used in combination with a roller operating below or be used alone, and whether-such roller be used in connection \ifi'ththe ordinary presscr-foot, or whether so associated in its operation with the needle as to dispnsc with and perform the duty of the presser-foot.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the application of he invention to a machine of the general form of the .fhcclcr and \Vilson, that form ofmachine sery'ing as well as any other for illustration; but the invention is applicable to other forms of'machinc. All

warts of the machine not necessary to the explanation of the invention are omitted.

Figure 1 is a right-hand side view of the machine, having the flaming in sect-ion to expose the working parts to view.

Figure 2 is a plan of the same.

Figure 3 is a vertical section, showing the feed mechanism in section as it would be seen from the left-hand side of the machine.

G is the iced-roller opcrating 011 the under side of the material, secured on a shaft H, which is arranged below the cloth-plate in bearings in two posts, I J. The upper part of this roller works through an opening in the cloth-plate close to the presser-foot.

G is the feed-roller operating above the material, and carried by a stud, a, which is secured in the lower end of an upright tubular stock, K, which is titted to slide up and downwithin, but prevented from turning in a socket, L, provided on the end of the presserarm E.

The roller G is long enough in an axial direction to extend all the way under the roller G and under the presser-foot, and has a deep groove, 1), provided in it for the needle to work in.

- The roller G has firmly secured to or formed in the same piece with it a bevel-gear, c, which gears with a bevel-gear, d, (see fig. 3,) on the lower part of an upright spindle, e, which is fitted to turn'free'ly in the stock K, andon the upper part of which, above the socket L, is firmly secured a ratchet-wheel, j; which is incased in a pawl-box, M. This pawl-box is fitted to turn loosely on the spindle e, and carries the pivot g, to which is secured firmly the pawl Z, (see fig. 2,) whichengages with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel f.

' To the lower part of the said pivot, below the pawlbox, there is secured a short lever-arm, m, which is connected by a rod, N, by means of an adjustable sliding connection, 1', with an arm, P, which is secured to the needle rock-shaft O.

The vibratory motion imparted. to the arm P in the operation of the needle rook-shaft produces, through the action of the rod N on the lever-arm m, such an oscillatory movement of the pawl-box and pawl as to give an intermittent rotary motion to the spindle e and its bevel-gear d, and this motion is transmittedby this bevel-gear to the bevel-gear (I, on the roller G, and hence to the roller itself, such motion taking place every time the needle is withdrawn from the material in sewing.

The roller G is pressed down upon the material in sewing by a spring, a, which is coiled around the stock K, between the bottom of the socket L and a shoulder on the stock, and thus made to clamp the material with sufficient force tot-he roller G to insure the material being carried forward by the movements of the two rollers when the said rollers have smooth surfaces. It the roller G had a roughened surface it would carry the material forward upon the table without the aid of a roller below.

The nut' h, which secures the ratchet-wheel f on the spindle 0, serves as a knob by which to lift the said spindle and the socket K and roller G, to permit the material to be sewed to be introduced under the roller.

The socket K may be so connected with the presser by an arm, 1', on the stem of the latter, as to enable the roller G to be lifted by theact of lifting the presser.

The shaft H of the lower feed-roller has firmly secured to it a ratchet-wheel, j, which is partly incased within a pawl-box, R, which carries a loose pawl, 12, shown in fig. 4, which represents a transverse section of theshaft and pawl-box and a side view of the ratchet-wheel. This pawl-box is fast on a sleeve,

q, which surrounds the shaft H, but has separate bearings, one in the post J and the other in a post, S.

The paw-l boxand sleeve have rigidly attached to them a rod, g, which is parallel with the sleeve and with the shaft H, said rod serving to connect the sleeve and pawl-box by an adjustable sliding connection, 1", with an arm, 1?, rigidly attached to the needle rock-shaft O. The vibratory motion of this arm P with the needle rock-shaft produces, through the connection r and rod q, an oscillating motion of the sleeve 1 pawl-box R, and pawl 11, and the pawl is thereby caused to produce an intermittent rotary motion of the shaft H and roller G synchronous with that of the roller G.

The variation in the length of the feed is produced by shifting the adjustable sliding connections 0' and 0- on their respective arms I and P,

It is obvious that to secure a uniform movement of the peri'pherical surfaces of the two feed-rollers the connections r and 'I' must be adjusted in unison with each other. To facilitate this each of the arms P 1 should have inscribed upon it a graduated scale by which their respective connections are adjusted upon them. 7

Theadjustment ofthe sliding connections is secured when made by means of set-screws or pins, entering notches in their respective arms. The scales in the arms will serve as a means of providing for an absolutely positive adjustment of the feed.

What 1 claim as my invention, and desire to secure byrLetters l'atent, i's-.

1. A feed-motion for. sewing-machines, consisting of two feed-rollers arrauged'opposite each other on opposite sides of the cloth, and each operated independently of the other by means substantially as herein described.

2. The combination, for supporting and operating the feed-roller which is arranged above the material, of the socket K, fitted to the Presser-arm, the spindle c, passing through said socket, the bevel-gears 0 (Z, on

the said roller and spindle, the ratchet-wheel f, on the said spindle, and the pawl I, carried by a pawl-box 0r carrier working upon said spindle, operated by some vibrating portion of the machine, all constructed substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, for supporting and operating the feed-roller which is arranged below the material, of the shaft H, the ratchet-wheel j, on said shaft, the pawl 1), carried by a pawl-box or carrier oscillating around said shaft, and the rod (1', attached to the said pawl-box or carrier and connected with an arm of the needle rock-shaft, all substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, with the arms 1? or 1?, attached to the rock-shaft O, of the adjustable sliding connections -2' or r of the rods N or q and their respective connections with the feed-rollers G or G, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

MARY I. CARPENTER.

Witnesses ALFRED It. Tln'rns, HENRY T. BROWN. 

